feature

Google on Thursday announced a new feature that will let users mute so-called
“reminder ads” in third-party apps and websites that are powered by
its ad engine. It plans to expand this feature to its own services, including Gmail, YouTube and Google Search, in the coming months. The new tool is the latest addition to Google’s dashboard for ad controls, first launched as Ads Preferences Manager back in 2009. The addition of Ad Settings and Mute This Ad will allow users essentially to block certain ads on Google, on websites and in apps.

Google’s Chrome OS-based computers debuted in 2011 with a very limited feature set, but they’ve exploded in popularity as functionality improved. There are still a few pain points for those who want to move over to Chromebooks (See on Amazon). For example, a lack of Microsoft Office apps on many devices. That’s not a problem anymore,…

A new feature that Facebook recently has been testing in a handful of countries could hurt publishers everywhere if it should roll out globally. The feature removes users’ Liked pages from their main News Feed and aggregates them in a separate space called “Explore.” In the six countries where Facebook has been testing the idea, traffic to news outlets reportedly has dropped 60-80 percent. “Publishers should be terrified by this,” said John Carroll, a mass communications professor at Boston University.

Instagram’s Stories feature, which launched one year ago, has achieved widespread engagement among businesses that want to raise their brand awareness and expand their e-commerce penetration, the company said. The tool, launched in August 2016, allows users to create digital slide shows out of photos and videos in order to convey a story. Businesses ranging from Taco Bell to J.Crew and Starbucks have used Stories to give a behind-the-scenes peek at new products, launch limited sales, or get instant customer feedback about new initiatives.

Apple’s new iMac Pro will feature Intel Xeons and AMD’s Vega GPU, start at $5,000, and be available in December 2017. It’s easily the most powerful all-in-one we’ve ever seen, but the price tag for that final configuration remains unknown.

SugarCRM on Wednesday announced the general availability of Sugar 7.9 with a new quote-generation and management feature that helps users turn opportunities into closed deals. The upgrade provides next-generation reporting capabilities, plus enhanced advanced workflow, which lets users trigger a process based on fields changing to or from specific values. Sugar 7.9 includes additional operators for evaluating text fields, and additional variable user options for record assignment. It also has an improved data query framework.

LinkedIn on Wednesday began rolling out Trending Storylines, a feature that offers curated feeds of the most interesting developing stories in a member’s industry. Storylines are personalized for members through a combination of algorithms and the choices of LinkedIn’s editorial team.
The feeds may include perspectives from relevant influencers and news sources, as well as individuals in the member’s LinkedIn network. Each Storyline will have its own hashtag, so other members can join the conversation.